The Mech Touch novel Chapter 3965

Chapter 3965 Expanding the Army

Chief Minister Magdalena Larkinson unveiled a controversial proposal.

For a long time, the Larkinson Army was split into seven unique and distinct mech legions.

The Avatars of Myth, the Living Sentinels, the Battle Criers, the Flagrant Vandals, the Swordmaidens, the Penitent Sisters and the Eye of Ylvaine covered the majority of roles of a comprehensive mech force.

In fact, there was a lot of overlap as well. There was no pressing need to add yet another mech legion that excelled at assaults or reconnaissance.

Even so, Ves knew that an older woman and former military officer like Magdalena would not speak out on impulse. She must have been convinced that there was a serious problem in the Larkinson Army to make such a drastic proposal.

The reactions from other military leaders such as General Verle and Commander Casella suggested that Magdalena already discussed the issue with them in advance.

"As my fellow chief minister already stated, diversity is one of our main advantages. Why should we confine ourselves to just seven mech legions when we can accommodate more?" She explained. "The current state of our clan and fleet does not offer any room for additional mech legions, but that will change once we expand our fleet and our outposts. With additional capacity for mechs, we should seriously think whether it is better to add a new mech legion than to expand one of our existing ones."

"If you have come up with this proposal, then you must have already come up with concrete suggestions." Ves stated as he paid close attention to the chief minister.

Magdalena nodded. "That is correct. One of the main flaws of our Larkinson Army is that we currently host thousands of mech pilots and even more dependents from the Heavensword Association who are not at home in any of the existing mech legions. The Swordmaidens are the closest to this group, but their martial traditions are too far apart despite possessing a common love for swordsmanship."

Ves grimaced. She was right. The inability to adequately accommodate the Heavensworders, especially the male ones, was a significant oversight.

Plenty of them had joined other mech legions that had room for swordsman mechs, but mech legions such as the Avatars of Myth adopted mech doctrines and martial customs that did not entirely align with the Heavensworders.

Since they weren't able to fit into the existing mech legions, it made sense for them to form their own military troop!

"Isn't it redundant to field two separate mech legions centered around swordsman mechs?" Director Ranya Wodin questioned. "The Swordmaidens and the Heavensworders fight in nearly the same way. Keeping them separate will lead to a lot of duplication, which is inefficient and wasteful. Why not merge them together into a single sword-oriented mech legion that accepts every gender?"

"Impossible!" Ketis stood up from her seat! "With respect, you don't know what you are talking about, Ranya. All of their swords might look the same to you, but in the eyes of an expert, there is an incredible diversity of sword styles and philosophies. The Heavensworders may be able to get along with each other, but the Swordmaiden Mech Legion is a unique institution that should be kept as pure as possible in order to preserve its existing advantages! I won't approve of any initiative that causes us to lose our identity! This is not why we have joined the Larkinson Clan!"

The only swordmaster in the grand planning session issued a predictable response. She may have gained a lot of prominence as a Larkinson, but she always identified herself as a Swordmaiden first.

"I agree with Ketis. We all respect the Heavensworders and challenge them to sword fights in our free time, but that doesn't mean we accept all of their ways and vice versa." Commander Sendra of the Swordmaidens concurred.

Venerable Dise also supported her fellow Swordmaidens. "Keep us separate."

"Okay, that is a pretty clear answer." Ves said as he wanted to put an end to any talk of merging the Swordmaidens with another mech legion. "While the justifications to form a separate Heavensword Mech Legion aren't the strongest, I think we should do right by the members in our clan. We already accepted them in our ranks, so it is also our responsibility to see that they are happy and respected."

No one issued any strong objections anymore to this specific initiative now that the patriarch had spoken.

That still left the question of what else Magdalena wanted to add to the Larkinson Army.

"We will have a need for mech units that are specialized in both landbound and aquatic combat." She said. "Perhaps our clan will not frequently meddle into conflicts where fights take place on land or underwater, but it is better to have the necessary expertise, training and experience on hand than not. The sooner we start with organizing mech legions that excel in those environments, the more we are able to contend in campaigns that take place on different planets."

This was a bold and farsighted suggestion, though not everyone saw the need to expand the Larkinson Army in this fashion.

"We are primarily a spaceborn clan that fights in space." An assembly member retorted. "This is where we should invest most of our resources. Our mech legions are also versatile enough to fight on land if necessary. The only serious gap we have are mechs that can fight in aquatic battlefields, but how often do we need to do so? We can easily do without aquatic mechs if we avoid any campaigns that involve water-based environments."

"We don't have the room for an aquatic mech legion right now, but what about ten or twenty years from now? We lucked out during the Purgatory Campaign because the phase whale enclave was close enough to a spaceborn environment for our mechs to remain useful. What if we stumble upon another motherload of phasewater that is buried underneath a deep ocean? I don't know much about mechs, but even I know that most machines will malfunction and drown when submerged in water."

The opinions on this matter were a little more divided. A mech legion was a substantial burden to the clan. No one wanted to host a new mech legion that took up a lot of precious mech capacity but hardly got put to use in any expeditions or campaigns. It was better to hire a specialized mercenary troop if that was the case.

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